T H E O L D E ST C O L L E G E DA I LY · FO U N D E D 1 8 7 8
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT · MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 · VOL. CXXXIV, NO. 130 · yaledailynews.com
INSIDE THE NEWS MORNING EVENING
RAINY WINDY
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CROSS CAMPUS Every college. Ezra Stiles
College held Medieval (K)night this weekend, bringing out Stilesians dressed in yellow and black garb and bearing swords and shields. The students marched throughout campus and eventually swarmed the courtyards of “every college.” “A big, big, big thanks to those of you who participated in Medieval Knight, who jousted in the courtyard, who donned helmets, and who raised swords & shields to expand this benevolent empire — leaving no doubt about Moose Dominance,” Ezra Stiles Master Stephen Pitti wrote in an email to students.
Tangled Up in Crowds. Folk
singing group Tangled Up in Blue held its bi-annual “Bees and Cheer” concert Saturday evening. The concert marked the 25th anniversary of TUIB, bringing out alumni like TUIB founder Nerissa Nield ’89. For many seniors, the night was emotional: A number were spotted crying after a particularly energetic rendition of “Wagon Wheel.”
W. TENNIS ELIS CLINCH IVY LEAGUE TITLE
MEDICAL MARIJUANA NEW HAVEN POLICE
M. LACROSSE
Finance Committee approves bill supported by Malloy; House to vote
COPS ARRAIGNED IN OFF-DUTY GUNPLAY INCIDENT
Yale topples Bryant in 2OT with last-second goal by Matt Gibson ’12
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Tenure system a boon for humanities BY ANTONIA WOODFORD STAFF REPORTER Five years after the University instituted a tenure-track system, professors and administrators said the perception that “nobody gets tenure at Yale” is fading. Under the tenure-track system adopted in 2007, tenure decisions are no longer dependent on departmental resources, and each junior faculty mem-
ber must be evaluated for tenure by their eighth year at Yale. Since the change, Yale College Dean Mary Miller said more faculty members — particularly in the humanities, which historically had low tenure rates at Yale — are rising through University’s ranks to receive tenure, and six recently tenured professors said morale among junior faculty in their departments has improved. At the most recent meeting
of the Board of Permanent Officers on March 29, five of seven professors awarded tenure were from humanities departments. “There was a perception in my department for many years that it was impossible to get tenure from the junior rank,” said Ian Quinn, a professor of music who was awarded tenure last month. “I believe it happened once in the last 40 years before me.” Before 2007, Yale was
extremely unusual in not having a defined tenure track, said Jon Butler, a professor of American studies and history and former dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, who cochaired the committee that drew up Yale’s new tenure policy. Rather than automatically considering professors for tenure after a certain period of time, Yale could only offer tenure when departments had a tenured slot
For thespians, Yale degree not enough While opportunities in undergraduate theater abound on campus, aspiring actors may find themselves underprepared relative to their peers in conservatories.
available. The University was also “completely abnormal” in that it would call a nationwide search to fill open tenured positions, to which junior faculty could apply, rather than assessing junior faculty’s scholarship independently, Butler said. Miller said the changes, which also made Yale more generous in SEE TENURE PAGE 4
Mr. Yale crowned
Champion. Kate Falkenstein
’12 placed as the top speaker at the American Parliamentary Debate Association’s championship tournament held at Wesleyan University this weekend.
Relay results. Friday’s Relay for Life saw a smaller turnout than last year’s. The event brought in over $51,000 for cancer research, while last year’s Relay for Life raised $85,000 for the cause. He’s got wings. Jack Hart ’12 won the honor of representing the United States in the Red Bull Paper Wings worldwide paper airplane contest. Hart won his spot in the distance category, constructing a paper airplane that travelled 45.11 meters. He’ll travel to the world championships in Salzburg, Austria, in May. Vandalism. Calhoun College
Dean Leslie Woodard’s apartment was vandalized on Sunday morning around 5 a.m., according to an email from Calhoun Master Amy Hungerford. An unknown culprit threw two bricks through the apartment’s windows from the walkway between Calhoun and Berkeley. No one was hurt, and the culprit has not been apprehended.
A winner. “The Island
President,” a documentary about the efforts of the president of the Maldives to save his low-lying island from rising sea levels, was named best feature film at the fourth annual Environmental Film Festival at Yale.
THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY
1968 Between 250 and 300 students stand around trees on Cross Campus, blocking bulldozers from uprooting them for a full hour before work crews head home. Submit tips to Cross Campus
crosscampus@yaledailynews.com
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JACOB GEIGER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
In late January, Jamie Biondi ’12 starred in “Macbeth,” his senior project for the theater studies major. BY AKBAR AHMED STAFF REPORTER Last fall, the Theater Studies program underwent a thorough curriculum review in which every part of the program was “scrutinized and assessed,” said Toni Dorfman, director of undergraduate studies for the program.
UPCLOSE In doing so, the program reaffirmed what it sees as a defining characteristic of theater instruction at Yale. In Dorfman’s words: “This is not vocational training. We don’t see it that way.” Instead, the program will uphold
its view of theater “as a branch of the humanities and as a complex cultural practice [that] claims a rich history and literature and an equally rich repertoire of embodied knowledge and theory,” as the Blue Book states. Yale’s promise to students of a liberal arts education is very different from what they might receive at more career-focused conservatory programs. According to Sarah Lovely, director of college counseling at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, Mass., a conservatory education provides a “very high level of training at least five days per week, with the option of acting or singing or dancing in a lot of performances in between.” The Yale program is a far cry from that practice-oriented structure.
Online courses for credit expand BY ANDREW GIAMBRONE STAFF REPORTER After a successful pilot program last summer, the University will expand the number of online courses offered for credit through Yale Summer Session this year. The University will offer nine Yale College courses online for credit — up from two last year — that will be open to both Yale students and those from beyond the Yale community at a cost of $3,150 each, the same as other Summer Session courses held on campus. Dean of Yale Summer Session William Whobrey said the online courses, which are still in an
experimental phase, “mimic the effects of a seminar” by allowing students and professors to interact via video chat and instant messaging. “This is an opportunity for Yale students to get credit towards their degrees even if they’re not in New Haven,” Whobrey said. “I’m sure there are students and faculty who prefer to be in the class and to see each other face-to-face, but this isn’t meant to replace that.” The nine online classes, which will be capped at 25 students each, represent eight different departments, includSEE ONLINE COURSES PAGE 4
Majoring in theater studies, students said, is not enough to learn the skills that are integral to a career in the field. “As far as getting the best training, you really need to participate in Theater Studies, but not just stay there. You absolutely need to do extracurricular theater,” said Timmia Hearn Feldman ’12, who will go into professional theater after she graduates this May. “It’s a combination. One without the other is useless.” For these students, preparing for a career in the theater while at Yale means navigating a complicated tangle of theater studies teaching and involvement in student-produced shows in their free time. SEE THEATER PAGE 6
JENNIFER CHEUNG/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
KEIL ’12 WINS MR. YALE Saybrugian Marty Keil ’12 won the title of Mr. Yale Sunday after an hour-long talent competition against members of all 12 residential colleges. Presenting his talent as “dating,” Keil won over the judges by reenacting a fake date that involved a prop master, strawberries and a Titanic painting scene.
LIBERAL ARTS
Redrawing the architecture major
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s members of the first class to complete the redesigned architecture major prepare for graduation this May, students within the program have noted an increasingly preprofessional feel. NATASHA THONDAVADI reports.
Three years ago, administrators at the School of Architecture turned back to the drawing board. Students and professors had raised concerns about the undergraduate architecture major’s sequence of courses, said Bimal Mendis ’98 ARC ’02, the major’s current director of undergraduate studies and an assistant dean at the Architecture
School. This May marks the graduation of the first class to have completed the restructured major, which includes a new prerequisite sequence and an updated history survey taught through the School of Architecture. SEE ARCHITECTURE PAGE 4